NFC West Preview

San Francisco 49ers – E.R.

Why E.R.? – E.R. was THE show of the last 15 years or so. Seinfeld may have been the show of the 90’s, but E.R. wasn’t far behind. It is a classic and a lot of old people like it. In the waning years of the show, many people that were new to TV watching (aka youngsters) probably wondered what all the hype was about. E.R. had such a good following and was apparently such a good show that people stuck with it through the last years. The 49ers are the same way. People who have only been watching football for the last 10 years probably wonder why so many people aged 26-45 are 49ers fans. They are 49ers fans for basically three reasons (although there are others): Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Jerry Rice. The Niners ruled the late 80’s and early 90’s. They were the cool team of the 80’s, and battled the Cowboys in the 90’s to hang on to that title. Now, the Niners appear to be back on track led by Mike Singletary. Good thing some of those fans stuck around. Let’s hope Singletary’s pants stick around all year.

Analysis – To be honest, I wrote these last 12 or 15 teams analysis after the 1st week, but the records were predicted before the season started. For that reason I will not change the 49ers 11 win prediction, which looks awfully tough now. They have a ton of offensive weapons, including Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree and Frank Gore. Alex Smith has to be terrible this year for the 49ers to miss the playoffs, but, he is Alex Smith, so that is a possibility.

Favorite Player – Patrick Willis. He is just really good.

Least Favorite Player – Alex Smith. He is just not really good. Yet.

2009 Record – 8-8

2010 Prediction – 11-5



St. Louis – Heroes

Why Heroes? – The Rams started the last decade as the “it” team in the NFL. “The Greatest Show On Turf” was poised for a long string of Super Bowl titles. They won a few, gained a lot of fans, made a star out of Kurt Warner, and even made Mike Martz look good. Then it all came crashing down. For the last four or five years, the Rams have probably been the worst franchise in professional football. They had no direction, they wasted draft picks, they didn’t win many games, and the fans quit showing up. Heroes suffered a similar fate during the last two seasons. It was the cool show for a couple years. It was THE show that ruled Comic Con. Then season three was sub-par and critics said season four was terrible. Apparently the writers had lost their way. Heroes is canceled. The Rams are still a team, led by promising rookie Sam Bradford. If they are any better remains to be seen.

Analysis – The Rams will be bad again. Sam Bradford at least provides a little interest and a reason to watch them. I wouldn’t expect many points to be scored by St. Louis unless Stephen Jackson absolutely goes off and breaks a long run every game. The defense is improved but still bad. They are finally headed in the right direction, but the results won’t be seen this year.

Favorite Player – Stephen Jackson. He is a premier back in the league, but you wouldn’t know it because of how bad the rest of the Rams have been. He apparently works really hard, on both his game and his hair.

Least Favorite Player – Chris Long. I like Howie better.

2009 Record – 1-15

2010 Prediction – 2-14



Arizona – The O.C.
Why The O.C.? – The Cardinals came out blazing for a year or two. The hottest thing in football (except the Steelers I suppose). Kurt Warner (Sandy Cohen) has resurrected his career. Larry Fitzgerald and Anquin Boldin (Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood) were everywhere, and the Cardinals defense (Summer Roberts) was there to steal the show at times. The overrated beauty was still on the bench (Matt Lienert AKA Marissa Cooper), and was really unneeded for a good game/show. Then everything kind of fell apart. Stories got screwed up, routes were always overthrown, quarterbacks retired, characters left. The O.C. was canceled after only four of my favorite seasons of TV ever (maybe leave out Season 3), and now it appears the Cardinals window has closed after only two or three years of contention.

Analysis – The talent is there, mainly named Larry Fitzgerald, but no team can win many games with Derek Anderson taking the snaps. That is all.

Favorite Player – Larry Fitzgerald. There should be an NFL rule that if you were once a team’s ballboy, that team can use a 6th rounder to draft you. Wouldn’t that be nice Vikings fans?
Least Favorite Player – Beenie Wells. He is the Blimpe spokesperson. Really Blimpe? Really?
2009 Record – 10-6

2010 Prediction – 6-10



Seattle – Grey’s

Why Grey’s? – Obviously both are in Seattle. Duh. The other reason I chose Grey’s is that both are full of drama. Pete Carroll has brought more drama to Seattle than McDreamy. His whole “legacy” he left behind at USC is blowing up in everybody’s face, except Pete Carroll. Somehow he gets off scot free. How? I don’t know. He apparently is the McDreamy of the football coaching world. Pete can do no wrong because of his positive outlook on life. He will “Win Forever”. (Sidenote: I read the first two chapters of Win Forever, then promptly dropped it back off at the library. Terrible book.)

Analysis – I do not think very highly of the 2010 Seattle Seahawks. They looked awfully good in week one, but I wouldn’t get used to those wins. My prediction is probably low, but so be it. The Seahawks have some young talent, and Matt Hasselbeck is still effective when healthy. However, he is usually not healthy, and their young talent isn’t good enough to win many games this year.

Favorite Player – Matt Hasselbeck. Hot wife.

Least Favorite Player – Matt Hasselbeck. Crazy wife.

2009 Record – 5-11

2010 Prediction – 3-13